This study aims at understanding the decision to buy "Made in Mozambique" products, which is important for developing marketing strategy and promoting national products. To explore the factors influencing consumers' buying decisions, means-end theory and its associated methodology provide a useful framework for understanding why people buy "Made in Mozambique" rice by characterising the relationships between the attributes, consequences associated with those attributes, and the values those consequences help reinforce. Methodology: a total of 20 consumers were interviewed. It is important to mention that only rice was used in this study. The laddering interviewing technique was then used to link these chains of meanings. Analyses and interpretation of the resulting data provide an effective complement for studying consumer purchasing motives and suggest recommendations for managerial practice and future research efforts. Summary of the study findings include: (i) Attributes: Quality, cost, national; (ii) Consequences: healthy, well-being, affordable, trust, contribution, and fulfillment; and (iii) Values: Feeling happy, longevity and self-esteem.The theoretical component of this research covers the definition and discussion of Means-end theory and consumer decision-making. / Industrial Psychology / M.A. (Industrial & Organisational Psychology)

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Technology: Marketing, Durban University of Technology, 2014. / Consumer behaviour towards marketing communication has a cultural undertone. The forces of globalisation have made it imperative for marketing practitioners to further integrate culturally sensitive variations in marketing strategies. While cultural values are changing due to global trends, culturally sensitive consumer behaviour has attracted more complexities due to media learning. Therefore, the journey to creating a sustainable competitive advantage in a multicultural market such as South Africa entails the realisation of the growing individualistic tendencies of consumers’ cultural dispositions toward marketing communication. The study aimed at investigating the influence of cultural diversity on the perceptions of Africans and Indians in Durban toward marketing communication. The study investigated respondents’ cultural values in terms of the individualism-collectivism (IC) constructs based on marketing communication-specific cultural values (MCSCV). A quantitative study was conducted to attain the objectives of the study, with the use of a self-administrated questionnaire. African and Indian respondents were recruited using judgmental sampling at the main shopping malls in Umlazi and Chatsworth, respectively. The sample selection was based on the representation of respondents’ population in Durban. The study covered a sample size of 283 Africans and 92 Indians. The SPSS software was used to analyse data. The findings of the study reveal that both races showed more individualistic rather than collectivistic tendencies toward marketing communication. The choice of media of Africans and Indians is significantly influenced by their racial identities. Overall, the findings suggest that it is erroneous to direct stereotypic marketing strategies at culturally homogeneous/diverse groups. The study recommends that a thorough study of prevailing cultural cues in ethnic segments should precede the development of marketing communication strategies.